Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) devices find use in integrated circuit memory devices such as static random access memory (SRAM) and dynamic random access memory (DRAM) devices. Such devices inevitably include conductive lines connecting one or more of the devices together. One type of conductive line is a gate or word line. Word lines connect the gates of one or more MOS devices together so that when the word line is turned on, data in the form of stored charges can be accessed.
It is desirable that a word line be highly conductive. A great deal of effort has gone into engineering more conductive word lines. Words lines are typically formed over a dielectric surface. The conventional word line includes at least one layer of conductive material which is layered onto the dielectric surface and then etched, typically anisotropically, to form a patterned word line, also referred to herein as a gate, gate line or gate stack. After anisotropically etching the gate or gate line, it is desirable to conduct a reoxidation step which helps to repair damage to the dielectric surface resulting from the anisotropic etch. Additionally, the reoxidation step oxidizes a portion of the gate or gate stack immediately adjacent the dielectric surface to round the lower portion of the conductive material, effectively creating a so-called “smiling gate” structure in which tiny bird's beak structures are formed at the bottom corners of the gate stack. Such smiling gate structure reduces hot electron degradation, as recognized by those of skill in the art.
During such reoxidation steps, it has been observed that the conductivity of the gate has been impaired due to the undesirable oxidation of the conductive materials forming the gate. For example, one type of conductive gate includes a conductive polysilicon layer atop the dielectric surface and a conductive layer of WSix atop the polysilicon layer. A more conductive prior art word line is formed from a conductive layer of polysilicon, a conductive layer of metallic material, and an intervening conductive metallic barrier layer between the polysilicon and metallic material which prevents formation of silicide during subsequent processing. Unfortunately, during the reoxidation step, the conductive materials of the line experience appreciable oxidation which has led to higher resistances (lower conductivities). Additionally, such oxidation has led to degradation of the interface between the materials which, in turn, can cause the materials to peel away from one another and create a yield loss.
This invention grew out of the need to provide a conductive line and to reduce undesirable oxidation effects on the conductive line due to oxidation processing steps such as a source/drain oxidation.